Such hearing devices are known in a great number of different types, whereas usually a differentiation of categories is made between around-the-ear arranged hearing devices, in-the-ear canal hearing devices and implanted hearing devices. For programmable hearing devices, the basic settings and features will be adapted by respective adjustment and/or programming according the individual requirements and needs of the user of the hearing device. This will be carried out during the fitting process taking place for several meetings of the user at the audiologist (or the hearing aids acoustician), whereby the hearing device will be adjusted or tuned.
The user usually thereby receives a fully functional hearing device with all the features enabled independent from its future application, e.g. a selective choice of functionality (pay-by-feature) or pre-paid features for a limited time period only.
A programmable hearing aid with keys for the enabling or disabling of functions, performance characteristics or programmable settings is known from DE 199 16 900. Both software and hardware keys are provided for this purpose. The functions concerned may only be used or be blocked by entering the respective key. This enables the user for testing certain functions or features of the hearing device which may afterwards rest unblocked or be blocked again. It is further proposed that the activation of such functions may only last for a predefined, limited period of time and be deactivated automatically after this time period. The main purpose of this functionality is to anticipate an improper, faulty or unauthorized use of the hearing device.
The use of such hardware keys is restricted to around-the-ear hearing devices for practical reasons due to its required space.
The application of software keys for miniaturized hearing devices is imaginable but implies always one separate key assigned to each respective individual hearing device. The storage and use of such a key makes high demands on logistic and handling. Big problems such as lost, forgotten or no longer available keys will arise especially during long maintenance rates or domicile change of the user of the hearing device that implies at least the exchange of the programmable module of the hearing device, if one or more functions or features of this module have to be unlocked or activated.
The activation or deactivation respectively of a function of the hearing device triggered by a timing counter is described in DE 199 16 900. That means that this function is actuated after a predetermined amount of time, e.g. an additional feature of the hearing device will be activated or deactivated. Such defaults on a predetermined time base are strong limitations especially during the fitting process and are too little flexible to cover multiple different requirements.
Beneath the problem of releasing several individual functions of the hearing device, an additional problem arises during the fitting process due to the common delivery of a fully functional hearing device with all functions or features enabled. This functionality of the hearing device should be activated or disabled under the control of the audiologist, in order to prevent the loss of the hearing device in its fully enabled state during the fitting process, as the user usually does not already has fully or partly paid its invoices during this period.
In view of this problem, it is an object of the present invention to provide a hearing device that permits an easy but flexible activation or deactivation of several or all of its functions or features.